Legend of the Soul Guardian
by Guardian's Blade
Summary: It has been one month since Aizen's defeat at the hands of Ichigo Kurosak, and things are not going well as a new evil threatens to destroy the Soul Society from it's very core ,and what of this new power that is growing inside the depths of Huceo Muendo.
1. Stand up and be Strong

**This is the first chapter of a story I am thinking about, if so then it will be my first story that I have ever written; anyway if this chapter goes over well, then I will begin working on chapter 2, after a quick revision of this chapter, anyway I will leave this chapter up for about a month, in order to hopefully let at least few people review it and give me some helpful advice (or perhaps compare my writing skills to that of a pre schooled) whatever works.**

** REVIEWS**

**Aletheya : Yea, I just bought I new computer and it is already messing me up. I can be typing at the bottom of a paragraph and all of a sudden be typing the in the middle of it ,so I went back and corrected a few of my mistakes in this revision. As for the sentence's I will just have to work on it ,I have already tried many different times but yet to no avail. Also any advice is welcome besides it's very difficult to insult me.**

**Chuela7795 : Glad you liked it ,i'll try and not disapoint you.**

**Now on to the story.**

**BOLD = Demon Ichigo/ hollow talking (This will not include Arrancar)**

_ITALICIZE = Inner Thoughts (This will include everyone)_

"QUOTIONS" = Speech, People Talking. (This will include Arrancar)

Ichigo was walking home from his high school in Karakura town; it had been over a month since Ichigo had lost his Soul reaper powers after fighting Aizen in the Winter War. It was hard to believe that nearly a year ago this is just the life he would have wanted, a nice, normal life with no spirits bothering him; however, in the last year his opinions on many things including his powers had changed ;with it all starting when he had first received his Soul Reaper powers from a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki. After all, in the last year he had made many friends, protected the weak, and had felt like he was actually making a real difference in the world. He had even saved the entire world and the Soul Society from Aizen and his Arrancar armies. He did all these things thanks to his powers ,his friends ,and his determination ;however, here he was now one year later back to being powerless while his friends Urryu ,Chad ,and Inoue had taken up his former job of fighting hollows and saving the lives of the dearly departed. He was more glad than jealous though considering how much Uryū had been telling him about how many more hollows seem to be appearing each day, and that the Soul Society had to send 5 Soul Reapers to help the one they already sent just to keep the hollows at bay. He missed many things about losing his powers though like all of the friends he had made in the Soul Society, like Hanataro, Ganju, and of course Rukia ,he defiantly missed Rukia . He also missed that he could no longer speak or even visit any of them back in the Soul Society. Sure, he guessed that they could come in a gigai or something, but he doubted that old man Yamamoto would just let anyone go to the human world anytime they wanted to ,that is unless they had a good enough reason to justify it; though, if he had to be honest about it he would be satisfied if only one person in particular could pay him a visit every so often and that ;of course, was Rukia even though they had only known each other for a year, they had gone through so much together that he felt like he had known her his entire life. In fact, if he was forced to choose which moment had been the hardest about losing his powers, then it would not be the pain though it was extremely painful. No, that moment would easily have to be the moment when he was forced to say his goodbye to Rukia , when it became harder, and harder to see her until finally he ceased to be able to see or even hear her, that moment when he felt as if he had lost one of his best friend's and that had to easily be the worst thing about losing his powers; though, he would never admit that to anyone, he did still have his pride after all.

"I need to clear my head" Ichigo muttered to himself as he decided to go the long way home ,as Ichigo walked he couldn't help ,but to continue thinking about what Rukia is doing ,and why she hasn't been visiting him since he had lost his powers.

_I wonder what Rukia's been doing all this time, probably fighting hollows or perhaps she finally managed to get some time off ,and is planning to come visit me soon ;though, even if she did I wouldn't be able to see her ,but she could always borrow a gigai from Urahara. No, that still wouldn't work because old man Yamamoto wouldn't allow anyone to go to the Human world without a good reason to justify it. Heck, if that's the only reason then I wouldn't even mind if she had to bring Renji or even Byakuya with her in order to somehow justify coming over here to that old geezer. _

Stopping dead in his tracks a look of pure horror spread across Ichigo's face. _Holy crap did I just say that wouldn't mind seeing Renji or even __Byakuya __again as long as Rukia was with them? That's the last straw I have to get a job, a hobby, or something to get my mind off Rukia, and the whole Soul Society in general._ Sighing, Ichigo allowed his thought to wander freely as he continued to silently walk home.

Entering his home Ichigo's instincts kicked in as he automatically ducked down, immediately after he did his father's foot came out of nowhere narrowly missing the top of Ichigo's forehead. Ichigo, who wasn't in any mood for his father's games, wasted no time in standing back up and planting a fist right in the middle of his father's face; causing his father to fall straight onto his back with a giant red fist mark visible on his face.

"You idiot, what kind of father attacks his own son right when he is just getting home from a long day at school_?" _Ichigo yelled angrily at his father, who was just now starting to stand back up.

"There is no mercy for those who would destroy the harmony of this household" Isshin yelled as he finally stood up completely, and got in Ichigo's face before continuing.

"School ended over 3 hours ago yet here you are just now arriving ;tell me what exactly have you been doing all this time?" Isshin yelled at his son, until a sly grin suddenly came across his face, a grin which made Ichigo wish he still had his powers so he could flash step himself straight to his room.

"Or perhaps I should ask with whom have you been doing things with all this time, you know Ichigo have I ever told you how much I would love to be a Granp" Unfortunately for Isshin that is all he managed to say before Ichigo's fist made its way back onto his father's face sending him back to the ground with another fist mark on his face, right next to the one he had just received.

"I just went walking to clear my head about things and your trying to make me sound like I was out messing around; you could stand to be a little more understanding you know, after all I did just recently lose my powers" Ichigo yelled back at his father, who was once again starting to get back up off the ground.

"You really miss your powers don't you Ichigo?" Isshin said with a surprising amount of seriousness, as he placed his hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

Taken aback by his father's sudden change in nature Ichigo finally said "I miss Rukia ,and the rest of the soul reapers ,I miss being able to help spirits find their way to peace ,I miss fighting hollows ,and most of all I miss not being able to make a difference ;I feel so powerless right now ,if a hollow showed up right now and attacked us you would be able to kill it easily ,but what if you aren't around when it arrives? What could I possibly do to stop it from harming Yuzu, Karin or even myself; it's this feeling of powerlessness that makes this whole thing so difficult to bear."

Isshin just stood there listening as Ichigo finished his speech ,then waited a few moments longer to try and string together the right words before he finally responded to his son "Ichigo ,do you remember what I said to you at the graveyard ,you know during our last visit to your mother's grave?"

Realization hit Ichigo's face as he said "Yea, you said something about going bald right?"

"No you idiot!" Isshin yelled as he hit Ichigo on top of the head with his fist. "I said that sometimes bad things happen, but you have to be strong, I said you had to shake off all of your gloom and depression, and finally I said that you were too young to carry around any kind of burden; it was true back then at the graveyard and it still holds true today"

"But" Ichigo began but was quickly cut off

"No But's" Isshin yelled at the top of his lungs "So you lost your powers so what, do you want to hear about all the good friends I lost during my time as a captain of the Soul Society? Do you want to hear about how many of them died in my arms, or died because I had to give them a mission that I knew was suicidal but still had to be done? Do you want to hear all of my sad stories, because lit me tell you, there are far worse things in this world than just losing your powers." Isshin stood still for a moment catching his breath and allowing is words to sink in before continuing in a calmer more relaxing tone.

"Now I want you to listen very carefully to what I am about to tell you. Sometimes fate has a nasty way of knocking people down, sometimes it knocks some people down harder than others, and there is only one way to get back up. That one way is to stand up and be strong, even in the worse cases where you feel like your world is falling apart there is always a silver lining ,sometimes it is hard to see but it is always their; so you no longer have any soul reaper powers, I didn't have mine for over a decade but they finally came back who's to say your powers won't come back as well? Besides, just because you can no longer help the souls of the deceased doesn't mean you can't help the souls of the living you can do countless things to help the living people, and as for our protection the Soul Society has kept the hollows here in check before even my grandfather's grandfather was born; and I doubt they would slack up on the hollows after all this time so stop worrying for nothing." Isshin stood quietly letting his words sink in, while Ichigo stood wide eyed taking in everything he was just told before he finally responded.

"Thanks dad, I don't really understand all of what you are saying, but I think I get the point. So really all I need to do is just suck it up and it will all play out in the end, and just because I can't see Rukia doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

_And besides maybe just maybe I will get my powers back soon, and if not I guess I could always do something in order to help the living. Rukia will visit and even if she doesn't I know that we will always be friends, and when it is my time to go then we will see each other again so maybe things aren't as bad as I thought ;though, I still hate that I can't see her now._

"Thanks again for the speech dad, I guess I'll head up to my room now" Ichigo said as he made his way to the stairs.

"Ichigo wait!" Hearing his father's yell Ichigo turned around just a moment too late to see Isshin's foot racing towards his face, unable to react in time Isshin's foot found its mark in the center of Ichigo's face, the force of the kick knocked Ichigo back unto the stairs.

"You idiot, what was that for" Ichigo yelled angrily, holding his face with one hand and pulling himself back up with the other.

"Now ,Now Ichigo I can't have you getting soft on me now ,especially when I expect to be seeing quite a few grandkids in the next couple of years or so ,and we all know how chicks dig strong, fearless guys and not those soft emotional types ,who just sit around crying all day" Isshin said in a lecturing voice with his eyes shut and arms crossed .

"Whatever" Ichigo muttered to his dad, as he once again started to continuing back up the stairs to his room.

Isshin stood watching Ichigo as he went up to his room and shut his door ,Isshin stood for a second longer before shaking his head and walking away ,while silently laughing to himself.

_Ha, ha, funny how he says he's depressed about being powerless ,yet after my little speech all he can think of is that Rukia girl ;and I don't even remember mentioning her in my little speech at all. Ha, ha who knows, perhaps I will have grandkids soon after all" _

Shaking his head Isshin put on his jacket and left Yuzu and Karin a note saying that a call came in for him and he would be back in a while, then his face became one of seriousness_" I can't allow myself to think about things like that right now, especially if what Urahara's contacts are reporting about the happenings in the Soul Society is true, if so then it won't be long before I won't be able to afford letting my guard down by thinking about things like that._

As Isshin walked out the front door, his thoughts slowly began to drift off to his days as one of the captains in the Soul Society, then events that had led to him coming to human world, then the events that led to his son Ichigo discovering his own powers ,and how his son had lost them in order to save the world from Aizen, and finally to how he was about to change his own son's future because of the action he is about to take ;however, he knew in his heart what he had to do ,he had been feeling something inside Ichigo for a few days now ,something he wished he did not feel but he had to be sure of. He wished he could ignore it ,he knew that if he did this then there would be no hope of staying out of the upcoming war ,if Urahara is correct then he himself may already be a target ,and he knew that this would likely make Ichigo one as well ;however, he knew his son was an adult now and could handle any trouble that came his way ,no the reason he was going where he was going was for selfish reasons. He had to know if this was truly what he thinks it is, or if it merely was just a side effect from when his son lost his powers. He knew of only one person outside the Soul Society that was good enough in science to verify what he thought he had felt within his son, and the only shinigami he trusted to ask advice from in precaution he knew of so that he will not be spotted by humans, hollows and soul reapers alike; he did all of this so he could pay a visit to a onetime friend of his, a friend by the name of Kisuke Urahara.

_**END OF CHAPTER 1 **_

**Author's notes:**

**So how did you like my first Chapter of my story? Remember to feel free to make any kind of suggestions that you feel may help my story (Especially if they include how to better make moments and conversations better, like the one between Ichigo and Isshin), and I will defiantly take all of them into consideration; however, all I ask is that you just remember that I am a slow learner and that it may take a while for some improvements to take place. That is assuming they ever do. Also I would like to point out (though I doubt I need to) that Ichigo does see Renji as a friend; however, he also sees him as a nuisance (at least when it comes to him being in the human world). After all let's not forget the whole police officer /detective thing Renji did that one time. **

**P.S. I hope the Revision is better than the original.**


	2. Convesations in the Night

**Okay now I know what you are thinking, that he hasn't updated in months, or he completely rewrote a chapter and just so you know I can explain both of these points. I have been very busy with ,well, life so I haven't had much time to write and when I found time and re-read this chapter I couldn't understand what the hell I was thinking ,so I went back and reorganized my story and then re-wrote the chapter in hopes of making it better. If you liked it the way this chapter was then I am sorry, and if like this new version of the chapter then thank you.**

**Update: I fixed some of my grammatical mistakes, so please tell me if it's getting any better.**

**CHAPTER START**

Ichigo went into his room, shut the door, and lay on his bed. As he stared off into the ceiling he started to think about what all had happened to him since he had gotten his powers, for the second time that day. Ichigo laid there for what felt like hours until he started to slowly drift to sleep.

**Scene Change**

Isshin continued to walk downtown whistling to himself, to a normal person's eyes he was just another carefree person having a late night walk ; however, to a keener eye he was a man in deep thought as he kept walking trying to figure out what to do about his would be pursuers.

_"Looks like I have 3 Soul Reapers following me now, unlike my son they seem to know the basics of how to suppress their spiritual pressure, but they are not skilled enough to suppress it completely. Knowing that old geezer these are probably just token guards to deal with minor hollows, plus since they seem to be having trouble suppressing their spiritual pressure so judging by that they are probably not even seated officers. Also they seem to be making quite a few mistakes even following me correctly_." Isshin thought as he could have sworn he heard one of the soul reapers trip behind him.

_"So he would hope they're not from the stealth force and really aren't much of a threat; however, they could still get in the way so I guess losing them is still my best option_", Isshin concluded.

As Isshin thought this he suddenly stopped and looked into a dark alley to his left.

"Hey what was that noise" Isshin said making sure that his pursuers could hear as he walked into the dark alley, stopping every couple of feet to look around until his body was completely engulfed in darkness.

Once completely hidden Isshin wasted no time in pulling out a piece of soul candy and swallowed it. As he exited his body, he remembered how odd the sensation of gushing out of his body still felt to him, after his long absence of being a Soul Reaper. Quickly regaining his senses Isshin looked over at his body now under the control of his mod soul.

"Listen up I want you to go to the store down the street on the right and buy some milk, eggs, and bread; I also want you to take every detour and watch every sight as soon as you get out of the store and start to head back home. Finally I want you to say out loud that you found a small puppy in this alley and that it was very nice. Do you understand? Isshin said using more of a lower more serious tone, rather than his usual carefree tone.

Not questioning his orders the mod soul gave a brief salute as it began to head back to the street. After exiting into the street the mod soul stated in a loud voice what a cute, little puppy that was as it began to walk toward the store. After about an hour Isshin saw it walk back along with 3 familiar spiritual pressures following close behind.

Isshin had to withhold a small chuck as he felt all 3 Soul Reapers moving farther and farther away from his position and, after about 15 more minutes passed so he could make sure that there were no Soul Reapers in the area he walked out of the alley and continued on his way to Kisuke Urahara's shop with his hands in his pockets whistling and admiring the moon.

_"I can't believe that those Soul Reapers where fooled so easily, they must have really lowered the bar on Soul Reapers in the last few centuries or so_" Isshin said thinking to himself thinking about when he was just a Soul Reaper recruit well over a few hundred years ago.

Isshin walked in silence until he came to the front door of the infamous Kisuke Urahara candy store ,a place he had not personally visited in decades. Knowing it was probably past 11p.m. now, Isshin decided to just try to sneak into Urahara's bedroom rather than wake everyone in the store up; however, he had barely made it passed the front door when suddenly he felt a broom strike his face. Isshin was about to react until he heard his attacker's voice ,who to Isshin sounded like a kid who could barely put on his own diapers let alone be a threat to anyone.

"I'll show you what happens to people who try to break into this shop thief." yelled the boy as he hit Isshin with the broom again.

_"Great so much for keeping quiet, I'll be lucky if this kid doesn't wake up half the people in town._" Isshin thought while rubbing his head.

"Hey stop that it hurts more than you think it does kid." Isshin said as he grabbed the broom from his would be attacker ,and quickly placed his hand over the boy's mouth to silence any unpleasant words that he was sure that the boy was about to yell.

"Jinta is that you? What's going on in their?" said what sounded to Isshin to be a deeper, older voice.

"_Wait, I know that voice_." Isshin said.

"Mr. Tessai. Jinta heard something, so he went to the front of the store to investigate and then I heard him yelling something about a thief." Said what Isshin was pretty sure was a little girl.

"What a thief? Hang on Jinta I'm on my way, I will not allow anyone to steal or wreak my beautiful shop."

"_Crap_." That was the only thing that could come into Isshin's mind as he heard the name of the man of whom that voice belonged to. Thinking quickly Isshin decided that it would be better to explain himself than to fight an ex-kido captain

"Wait, Tessai, hang wait it's me" Isshin said however, before he could finish he was cut off by Tessai's voice.

"Bakudō number 61 Rikujōkōrō".

Isshin's let go of Jinta as he felt his body stiffen, unable to move he quickly decided to explain himself; however, just as he feared Tessai had improved on the original Rikujōkōrō and made it to where he couldn't even open his mouth let alone speak.

"_Crap, I forgot about Tessai's special gigai that hides spiritual pressure. He must have used it so I wouldn't sense him get behind me. Tessai's a former captain; I should have known he would have something planned_." Isshin thought, as he began to think about his options of escape from the, who he hoped wouldn't be in a bad mood, ex-captain. "_I could break out of this easily by raising my spiritual pressure; however, if I did that then it would alert every spiritual person in the city, so I guess I should just wait and hope he asks who I am before he tries to do to kill or knock me unconscious_." Isshin thought.

"Jinta are you alright?" Tessai said with obvious concern for the young boy, yet Isshin could tell even in the darkness that despite having his entire body paralyzed by his Rikujōkōrō; Tessai had never let his guard down or his eyes off of him for a second.

"_Looks like I'm not the only one expecting trouble soon. After all who would use a high level kido or any kido for that matter against a mere human? No things must have gotten worse in the Soul Society since I last saw Kisuke if even Tessai is this jumpy_?" Isshin thought.

"Yea I'm fine but when this guy had his hand over my mouth I noticed a zanpakutō on his hip, and I didn't see any hollow mask on him at all. This guy is defiantly a Soul Reaper." Isshin heard the boy ,who he was sure had a smug grin directed at him, said.

"_Brat_"

"I see well then Ururu turn on the light, and let's see just who our guest is" Isshin couldn't help but feel a little relieved to hear Tessai say that.

"Yes, Mr. Tessai" came the girls short reply, a few moments later the lights to the store came on.

As the lights came on, Tessai's eyes widened in shock as he found out just who he had caught.

"Mr. Kurosaki! Is that you?" Asked Tessai with an eyebrow raised as he released his kido, but still kept his gaze fixed on his target.

"That's better; yea it's me Isshin Kurosaki how have you been Tessai?" Isshin asked as if he had not been completely paralyzed just a few seconds ago.

"Kurosaki, not that isn't good to see you again but why are you here at this time of the night, and why didn't you just knock instead of sneaking in here like a thief"? Tessai asked with an even voice; however, Isshin could have sworn he heard a slight trace of humor in it.

"I'm here to see Kisuke about a very important matter Tessai, and it couldn't hold until morning. As for me not knocking, I thought that I could get in; talk to Kisuke; and get out without anyone else noticing. I'm really trying to keep this one off the books." Isshin said in a more serious voice, something that did not go unnoticed by Tessai.

"Hmm, I see well the boss is sleeping at the moment but I'll go wake him up for you". Tessai said as he turned around and began walking to the back of the shop when he was stopped by the sight of Kisuke, who was walking out of his room and putting his hat on.

"That won't be necessary Tessai, I'm already awake but if you don't mind can you please make me and our guest here some tea." Kisuke asked nicely

"Of course sir, it'll be ready soon". Tessai said as he went off to make some tea.

After Tessai made his way out of the room Kisuke turned to Isshin.

"We can talk in that room over there." Kisuke said signaling to the room behind the one they were now in.

After receiving a nod from Isshin, both former captains made way to a room with only a table and a few pillows to sit in it. A few minutes later Tessai opened the door giving both men their tea and left after giving a nod to both Kisuke and Isshin to tell them that he would make sure they weren't disturbed by anyone.

As both men sipped their tea Kisuke broke the silence.

"So what is this important thing you need to discuss with me that couldn't wait until morning " Kisuke said feigning a yawn to illustrate his point.

Isshin silently looked at his reflection in his tea before raising his head to look at Kisuke.

"I need a favor and some advice Kisuke."

"I see and what kind of favor and advice is it that you want?" Kisuke said confused about why exactly this couldn't wait until morning.

"It's advice about my family, as is the favor Kisuke". Isshin said looking at Kisuke who gave Isshin a nod to continue.

"Ever since my son lost his powers a month ago, I've felt residual spiritual pressure within him. This pressure is above that of any ordinary human that much I could tell right away. At first I thought that it could just be him losing his powers at a lesser rate than he previously had since he already lost the bulk of it. ;however, as the days and weeks have went by I think I have noticed it get slightly stronger instead of weaker ,not nowhere near what it needs to be to even see spirits but still if it is truly getting stronger then that means my son's powers are returning slowly but surely. If that is the case then if anyone hears about it, then that alone would more than likely make him a target. I could be wrong though Kisuke when I was a Soul Reaper I was a simple soldier. The only reason I even know how to sense and gauge spiritual pressure half as well as I can is due to my experience on the battle field, and even then I have truly never been the best at it. Add that to my abilities rusting for over 20 years and I can't tell if what I am seeing within my son is actually real or if I'm just imagining it and all this is for nothing. You however Kisuke ,you was and still are a scientist you have to be able to sense spiritual pressure with precision to effectively do your job, so you know how to figure out how high is spiritual pressure is and you could tell me if it is recovering ,deteriorating ,or if it is just staying the same. Finally you never lost your powers, and have continued to hone your skills so your abilities are as sharp as ever. To sum it up Kisuke I'm asking that you check my son's spiritual pressure, and if you can; without harming him, to restore his soul reaper powers.

After Isshin got through talking he looked up to Kisuke who was silently fanning himself. After a few seconds he folded his fan and placed it under his chin before speaking in a more serious tone.

"My, my, my I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised by this Kurosaki. After all I can remember a time when you said that you and your family was done with soul reapers and the soul society. That the only reason you allowed your son to become a soul reaper in the first place was because you believed in him and that he had a right to fight for his home and his friends against Aizen who wanted to destroy it. I also remember you saying that you told Ichigo about the final Tensho were for dual purposes. You knew that with it he would be able to beat or at least weaken Aizen, but you also wanted Ichigo to lose his powers because you said he wasn't ready to face all the dangers of being a soul reaper just yet; that your wish was for him to enjoy life as a human, before experiencing death as a soul reaper. That is of course." Kisuke stopped for a second to take a sip of his tea before continuing. "If I am remembering it all correctly, so before I give you my answer, I want you to tell me why you have had a change of heart all of a sudden, on an issue that you seemed set on. After all, I like to believe I am good at reading people, and yet I wouldn't have guessed that you would change your mind this quickly and without any form of pressure. I also want the complete story and not some simple answer." Kisuke said while in truth he had already pieced together Isshin's story years ago, yet still wanted to hear it from Isshin himself.

Isshin sat quietly in his seat for a few minutes staring at his reflection in his tea, before he finally began to speak.

"I, I was a fool Kisuke." Isshin said with a voice still filled of confidence, but one of remorse as well.

Kisuke gave a nod for Isshin to continue as he once again began to silently fan himself.

"All I ever wanted was to protect my family, to give them a life where they would be safe and happy. That was both mine and Masaki's dream ever since Ichigo was born. I will never forget the look on Ichigo's face, coming into this world when he was born it made me and Masaki so proud. That day I promised myself that I would protect my family at any cost; however, I was still proud of being a soul reaper and that pride I held made me reckless and that recklessness cost me and Masaki our powers, but it also had nearly cost me the family that I loved so much."

"I'm sorry Isshin." Kisuke said feeling bad for his part in the incident he was referring to.

"Don't be I already said that it wasn't your fault ,there was no way for you to have known and even if you had I doubt you could have stopped it." Isshin said in the same somber tone he had used during his entire speech, before continuing.

"Losing my powers was a harder hit to me than it was to Masaki, since I used mine every chance I could get while she was always more reluctant to use hers ;however, I knew it was for the best and in time adjusted hoping that I would be through with soul reapers for a while. Yuzu and Karin was born 8 years later by then; however, we had already noticed Ichigo's ability to see spirits, and so we had a "friend of the family" who knew a lot about soul reapers to make something that would continually suppress his spiritual pressure out of fear of him being discovered by hollows among other things."

"I see" Kisuke said having a good idea who this "friend of the family" was.

"I'm sure you do" Isshin said before continuing.

"There was however a hitch ,you see the device could and would stop any more spiritual pressure from getting out ;however, it was unable to seal any pressure that was already getting out ,and if ever introduced by direct contact to a foreign spiritual pressure that was strong enough the seal would begin to erode becoming less and less effective over time. This meant that while Ichigo could still see spirits, he would not be a target or so we thought. A few years later Karin and Yuzu was also was showing the same signs of having spiritual pressure ,so we visited our friend again who used the same device to seal their power as well. Karin was like Ichigo in that her powers had already developed to the point to where she could actively see spirits ;however, Yuzu's powers was far less developed than either Ichigo or Karin in that she could only sometimes sense spirits at best ,thus making her the more human of the 3. Masaki and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief as we felt like we could all live like a happy, normal family with no fears of hollows or anything else, until about 2 years later of course when the Hollow Grand Fisher appeared and took Masaki from us. After that to say I was shaken was an understatement ,I blamed myself because if I still had my powers then I should have been able to protect her ,I blamed the Soul Society for not responding quick enough ,I even blamed you since you were a former captain who still had his powers and might have been able to make it their in time ,and most of all I blamed the hollow for killing the woman who I had and will always love. If it wasn't for the kids I don't know if I would have ever gotten out of my depression; however, once I had and could once again think with a clear head I understood that in reality nobody was to blame not the Soul Society, not you, not even that stupid hollow fisher, and I found out that even though she was gone her children; our children still remained and they needed me to be a father and not someone who would only depress them further. So I started doing everything with them, spending time with all three of them the best that I could; though, as Ichigo got older I started giving him more and more space since I knew how he must have felt at that age, and before I knew it both the girls was in school and Ichigo was entering high school. Then something that I feared but knew in my heart would eventually happen. There was a hollow attack near our home in Karakura town, and it had somehow managed to sense my son's spiritual pressure. That attracted the soul reaper Rukia Kuchiki, and the rest of that is history." Isshin said taking a deep breath before continuing.

"That is of course until after the Winter War, with Aizen gone and with the world almost back to normal I thought that we could finally be a normal family once again; however, I was a fool to think such a thing, Karin and Yuzu's seals have already been destroyed by all of the spiritual pressure in they have been exposed to in the last year. Yuzu can now see spirits just like she could anything else and I know for a fact that Karin comes here often for advice about some of her newfound abilities; however, Ichigo still has yet to even regain the ability to see spirits. At first I was actually happy he had lost his powers ,I thought that he would eventually get used to being just human again ,I thought that he would grow up and get married and that he would be happy to live a normal life as a human before he was once again forced to become a soul reaper. I know now just how wrong I was. Ichigo was never truly human, he always was a soul reaper even before he knew the meaning of the word ,and once he actually became a soul reaper he couldn't stop because he had finally gained something he had always longed for since Masaki's death the power to protect his friends. I could force my son to have a human life, force him to live life of safety, but he would not be happy with a life-like that. No, whether I like it or not my son is a soul reaper that is what he is ,perhaps that is always what he was ; what we both were and to deny my son his happiness would be an insult to Masaki's memory and meaning that I broke the promise I made so many years ago. That is why despite my personal, selfish wishes I will do whatever I can to make sure Ichigo and all my kids have the happiness that they deserve, and for Ichigo that means being a soul reaper once again. So what do you say Kisuke will you do me this favor?" Isshin finished looking up to Kisuke who had stopped fanning himself, and instead put both hands on the table before speaking.

"Very well then I'll do everything I can to help Ichigo regain his soul reaper powers. I will meet you at your house at midnight tomorrow since it would seem odd if both you and Ichigo came to visit me at the same time." Kisuke said with a smile on his face.

"Thank you Kisuke" Isshin said as he stood up.

"Don't mention it, we all owe Ichigo a debt that can hardly ever be repaid and some would say that I owe him more than others; however, there is something I would like to ask you 3 questions." Kisuke said and after a nod from Isshin continued.

"What will you do if Ichigo does regain his powers? Does this mean that you would allow Yuzu and Karin to become soul reapers as well?" Kisuke said with a neutral expression.

"What Ichigo does after he gets his powers is his business; he isn't a child who needs me to hold his hand anymore. Whether or not I like it he is an adult, he has seen many battles and has seen more death in the last year than some soul reapers see in 50. As for Yuzu and Karin they are still just children and are too young to make any kind of decisions like that; however, when they are old enough and if that is what they choose then so be it ,but don't think for a second that I will tolerate you or anyone else trying to convince them to become soul reapers. Does that answer your questions?" Isshin asked more than a little annoyed at Kisuke's questions, especially the second one.

"Almost, I still have one more question." Kisuke said as his tone went from carefree to deadly serious in an instant.

"You said earlier that perhaps you and your son were always soul reapers ,does that mean that I can assume that you will be ta-" Kisuke said only for him cut off by Isshin.

"Yes, you can tell that old geezer of my decision. If that's all then I'll see you tomorrow at midnight Kisuke. Oh yea, if you don't mind could you also give me a report on the Soul Society tomorrow as well. I would like to be kept up to date given my position, and I would ask now if it wasn't due to the fact that it's past 3am and that I don't trust my gigai to give my son a "proper" wake up call" Isshin said as he opened the door, and broke a barrier that Tessai had put around the room to keep intruders out.

As Kisuke heard the front door shut, he couldn't help but sigh as he pulled a file from outside his shirt and looked at it.

"_Well, well, well I have to admit Isshin I honestly wasn't expecting this; though, it couldn't come at a better time ,I'm glad you didn't ask to see the report on the Soul Society today or you might have changed your mind again. It seems that if something doesn't happen to turn the tide soon the Soul Society may soon descend into an all-out war ;however, that is not what's bothering me. No ,it isn't what I'm hearing that's bothering me, yet it's what I'm not. Something isn't right ,I can tell that much yet I cannot put my finger on it. I hate situations like this, situations where I truly do not know what is going to happen ;however, I do know one thing ,and that is that things are about to get interesting both here and in the Soul Society_." Kisuke thought to himself as he got up and looked out a window, to see storm clouds forming and lighting flashing in the distance.

"Yes, very interesting indeed." Kisuke said as walked back to the table and took one last look at the report before closing it. As he closed it he continued to think about the last sentence in particular over and over again.

"All contact lost with soul reaper patrols inside Huceo Muendo, am going to investigate further - YS."

"Please be careful Yoruichi." Kisuke said to himself as walked back to the window to see a fully formed storm now charging toward Karakura town.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**Well I did some of Isshin's backstory here ;though I tried not to go into much detail. Anyway on with more questions. Will Yuzu and Karin eventually become soul reapers? Will Ichigo be able to get the full extent of his powers back? Is their something going on in which we are not aware of? Why am I asking you these questions when I'm the one writing the story? Find out next time or not on "The Legend of the Soul Guardian."**


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